Chapter 92 “I don’t want to! Pi will stay too!”
The hatchling suddenly threw a tantrum.
“I’ll fight here with you!”
But this time Ariella didn’t give in.
She had no gentle smile or soft persuasion like usual. Instead, she spoke short and firmly.
“No.”
Pi could help in finding paths or calming winds.
But this was different—this was a fight where someone could get badly hurt, or even die.
“I can’t take a young dragon into something like this.”
Pi’s face twisted in distress.
He stared at Ariella with pleading eyes, stubbornly refusing to give up.
“I’ll be really careful! Can’t I at least stay behind you and just watch? I don’t feel good about this.”
He tapped the stone ground with his little feet, begging, but Ariella didn’t even blink.
Faced with her unshakable stance, Pi faltered and finally gave up.
“If you ever need me, call me anytime. Promise, alright?”
Drooping his ears in defeat, he flapped his wings and lifted into the air.
But he didn’t fly away right away.
Circling above the deserted island several times, he kept looking down at Ariella as if still reluctant to leave.
She clicked her tongue and waved her hand.
“Really, the kid’s unusually clingy today.”
Only then did Pi finally turn and go.
His tail, now grown longer, sliced through the wind as his slender body gained speed.
Ariella waited until he disappeared past the horizon before turning her back—if the Sea Serpent spotted him, Pi could be in danger.
Richmond spoke in a low voice.
“That hatchling… this is the first time I’ve heard him talk like that.”
“You mean saying he wanted to fight together? Maybe he’s still upset about when I left him behind while hunting the Death Eater.”
“No, not that.”
There was a strange emotion in Richmond’s beautiful voice.
“He said he had a bad feeling, didn’t he?”
“Ah.”
Ariella didn’t take it seriously.
“He just doesn’t want to be apart from me, that’s all.”
That uneasy feeling must just be separation anxiety.
“Well then, shall we begin?”
She signaled with her eyes to Ludwig.
He lifted his hands and brought them together in front of his chest.
Whoosh!
A fierce flame burst to life between his palms.
Unlike the floating fireballs for light, this one was condensed for destructive power.
“I’ll force it out first.”
He gestured quickly.
Fwoosh!
The fire roared forward, vanishing into the Sea Serpent’s cave like it was being sucked inside.
A few seconds later—
Boom!
The entire island shook with a deafening explosion.
Even the waves crashing on the rocks shifted direction for an instant.
Ulken growled.
“If that one shot had killed it, I’d have no regrets.”
But that was just wishful thinking.
Rumble—!
This was a different sound from the explosion.
The sound of something enormous rising and moving.
The air itself grew heavy.
Everyone tensed, watching closely.
Then, a long, sleek body slid out from the cave.
“Graaaahhh!”
The beast roared, its voice wet and rolling like seawater.
Its head resembled a dragon’s, but sharper, with layers of fangs jutting from its pointed jaws.
Its size rivaled that of the Red Dragon, Caliserd.
The whole island seemed to tilt under the weight of its massive body.
Richmond murmured.
“As expected… but still overwhelming.”
The creature’s magical energy was so strong Ariella felt dizzy.
But instead of freezing in awe, she began chanting.
Her black eyes gleamed with golden light.
“Hold!”
She stretched both arms wide.
Magic burst from her body in waves.
It spread like two waterfalls splitting in opposite directions, racing along the shoreline.
Two arcs of power ran around the island like a pair of crescents.
Crack!
Tens of thousands of magical threads wove and tangled through the air, forming a barrier at terrifying speed.
Starting from her hands, the threads stretched all the way around to the far side of the island.
Sweat rolled down Ariella’s forehead, but her eyes stayed steady.
“…Done!”
A living wall.
The magical net now wrapped the entire island.
It would stretch and absorb force instead of breaking.
“Remarkable.” Richmond admired.
In such a short time, not only had the Demon King grown stronger—his human contractor had as well, at an unbelievable pace.
“Rrrrhh!”
The Sea Serpent realized it was trapped and roared in fury.
“Kyaaaahhh!”
The piercing cry shook their ears.
“Shut up, beast!”
The first to charge was the Lycanthrope, Ulken.
His hands stretched into deadly claws.
From behind, Richmond cast his support spell.
“Dark Bolt!”
Crack—Boom!
A black lightning strike fell.
The monster barely dodged, leaving a small opening.
Ulken lunged through it, slashing with his claws.
Slash!
Blue blood splattered, flesh tearing open.
The Sea Serpent writhed in pain.
Its roar twisted the sea and air together.
Ulken dodged the crushing weight of its body by a hair’s breadth.
Through the gap he left, a column of fire blasted forward—
Ludwig’s flame magic.
Whoosh!
The searing heat burned the air, burrowing between the serpent’s scales.
“Kyaaahhh!”
The group quickly surrounded the monster.
It tried to break free of the encirclement.
Being far stronger in the sea than on land, it aimed to drag the battle into the water.
But when it reached the shore and tried to dive—
“…?”
It was caught in Ariella’s magic net.
The more force it used, the more the net stretched, but it did not break.
Trapped like a shark in a fishing net, the Sea Serpent thrashed about.
Then—
Boom!
An explosion erupted behind the serpent, followed by a cave-in.
Richmond cheered.
“Well done, Demon King!”
While the monster shifted toward shore, Ludwig had blasted fire into the cave entrance, collapsing it with rubble.
The open tunnel was now sealed.
No escape by land.
“Kyaaaahhh!”
Frustrated, the serpent tried climbing straight up the net.
But above its head floated Richmond.
“Chaotic Blast!”
A whirl of black waves crashed into its skull.
Its body staggered, giving Ulken and Ludwig their chance to strike again.
Watching the battle, Ariella thought—
“Maybe… this could end easier than we feared.”
At that moment—
Rumble…!
A strange vibration pressed down on the island.
It came from the Sea Serpent.
“Kyaaaahhh!”
Its scream shook the deserted isle.
Then, something stirred in the sky.
“The clouds?!”
Thunderclouds surged in, covering the heavens.
Dark shadows dyed blood-red by the sunset spread overhead.
They moved so fast the edges boiled like fire.
“So the Sea Serpent can control the weather too?”
The old records never mentioned that.
Centuries must have passed, letting this beast grow stronger and gain new powers.
Crack—Boom!
Thunder tore the air apart.
A furious storm swept down.
Shhhhhh—!
Rain poured in sheets.
But instead of falling straight, the raindrops slashed sideways and diagonally in violent gusts.
The sea itself thrashed with them.
“Kh…!”
The drops stabbed their skin like needles.
But worse than the rain was the wind.
“Even stronger than the coastal winds!”
Back there it was hard to stand.
Here, the storm felt like it could rip the flesh off their bones.
“So this is a Demon King-class monster…”
Without intelligence, yet wielding such powerful magic purely on instinct.
Ariella looked at Ludwig.
The flames he had been casting nonstop were now faltering.
“He only knows how to burn. He said he doesn’t know a single defensive spell…”
She hurried to chant another spell.
But after maintaining the Hold barrier, her magic was nearly drained.
She turned to warn Ludwig—
But he had already looked at her.
“…!”
Their eyes met in midair.
It was strange.
Before Ariella could shout, Ludwig gave a small nod.
No words passed, but they understood each other instantly.
Ariella resumed her chant.
“Careful… we’re still in the middle of battle.”
Ludwig’s immense magic flowed into her body.
That nod just now had been his silent signal—
Take my magic. Use it.
